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Humpback Whale Whale Conservation and Research related to the OCNMS John Calambokidis Cascadia Research Long-term studies by Cascadia Research Humpback whale Blue whale Gray whale Abundance Abundance Existence of Long-term trends Movements seasonal residents Movements & Tagging work Movements migrations Feeding behavior Abundance N Pacific wide Vocal behavior Site fidelity studies (SPLASH) Strandings Cascadia Photo-ID catalogs and encounters for E N Pacific Start of Photo-ID primary catalog Sightings/I Species effort (unique IDs) Ds Humpback whales 1986 4,663 37,754 Gray whales 1998 1,732 28,433 Blue whales 1986 2,257 14,043 SWFSC/NOAA ship survey June-Sept 2018 transect lines >1,500 IDs & >300 samples collected Small boat effort, sightings, and samples from humpback whales in 2018 Humpback whale Biologically Important Feeding Areas SPLASH multi-strata estimates (Wade et al.) Proportion of humpback whales matching breeding areas Humpback whale trends – California and Oregon Humpback whale trends – Washington – S British Columbia Salish Sea Areas of Columbia River recent expansion of humpback whale occurrence SF Bay S California Bight Increased sighting reports of humpback whales in Salish Sea 600 Sighting reports of humpback whales in the Salish Sea 500 400 300 200 Number of sighitngs 100 0 Year 2018 Effort and humpback sightings 2018 Effort and humpback sightings W N Pacific Population PCFG E N Pacific population Sounders – N Puget Sound Makah whale hunt – May 1999 PCFG abundance 1998-2017 Gray Whale Strandings per Year in Washington Number of Stranding Events per Year 40 34 35 30 27 25 23 20 15 13 11 9 10 9 10 10 8 8 6 6 6 7 7 4 4 5 4 4 4 5 4 5 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 0 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 Biologically Important Areas – Gray whales Aerial photograph of feeding whale in Strait of Juan de Fuca Variety of prey and habitats overall: Head of Feeding on ghost whale shrimp in N Puget Sound Mud plume Feeding in shallow water off Camano Island Feeding pits made by gray whales off Whidbey Island, Puget Sound Gray whale occurrence in N Puget Sound • Primarily seen March through June then not other areas • 12 whales seen in >3 years, core group arrived in two waves 1990-91 & 1999-2000 •2 whales “discovered” N Puget Sound Dubnuc seen in SPS in 1991 then shifted to regular NPS North Puget Sound gray whale (Sounders) sighting histories for whales seen more than 2 years Confirmed N Puget Sound gray whales seen two or more of the last five years. Green indicates seen in NPS and purple only outside NPS. Span ID Name Sex 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Yrs 21 Shackleton M 30 22 Earhart F 30 44 Dubnuck M 29 49 Patch M 29 53 Little Patch M 29 56 M 29 185 M 22 356 21 383 M 21 396 F 21 531 F 20 723 Lucy M 20 2246 2 2015 2015 2014 2014 2013 2013 2012 2012 2011 2011 2010 2010 2009 2009 2008 2008 2007 2007 2006 2006 2005 2005 2004 2004 2003 2003 2002 2002 2001 2001 2000 2000 1999 1999 1998 1998 1997 1997 1996 1996 1995 1995 1994 1994 1993 1993 1992 1992 1991 1991 1990 1990 1989 1989 1988 1988 1987 1987 1986 1986 1985 1985 1984 1984 1983 1983 1982 1982 New regular whalesto NPS 1981 1981 1980 1980 Strandings 1979 WAstrandings and new NPSregulars 1979 1978 1978 1977 1977 0 5 4 3 2 1 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Blue whales 27 5 1 1824 207 233 11 1 5 2 29 88 25 1 Legend Dec-April 1 39 May-Nov Matches between feeding areas not represented Movement of blue whales between California and areas to the north Rare sighting of Blue Whales off the Washington Coast – 24 July 2019 • Two blue whales feeding 17 nautical miles NW of Grays Harbor in 60 m of water. • Sightings off Washington are rare with just a handful of documented sightings in the last 50 years. • The most recent documented sightings were in 2011 including 6 in December • The two whales seen on 24 July 2019 were both identified by their natural markings as known whales. One animal was CRC-3385, seen previously in June 2016 in the Santa Barbara Channel and in 2016 and 2017 near Monterey Bay. • The other animal was CRC-3174 and had been seen previously in August 2014 off southern California (near Malibu). Deploying tags on whales Threats to large whales Ship strikes Entanglements in fishing gear Underwater sound Changing ocean conditions West Coast Large Whale Entanglement and Response MAKAH TRIBE CRC/SR3 Image NOAA Permits #18786-03 For many species of large whales entanglement is #1 source of human caused death CRC Image Immediate: Drowning Long-term: Starvation SR3 Image CRC Image Chronic: Infection (sepsis) Trauma: bleed out…etc RightCCS whale Image #2030 CCS Image Chronic: drag Moore, M. J. (2014). How we all kill whales. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 71(4), 760-763. Read, AJ, P. Drinker, and S. Northridge. 2006. Bycatch of marine mammals in U.S. and global fisheries. Conservation Biology : the Journal of the Society for Conservation Biology 20, no. 1: 163-169. Average time to death of entangled right whale ≈ 6 months range: immediate to two years NOAA Images Moore, M.J., Bogomolni, A , Bowman, R , Hamilton, P.K. , Harry, C.T. , Knowlton, A , Landry, S , Rotstein, D , Touhey, K. (2006). Fatally entangled right whales can die extremely slowly. 1 - 3. 10.1109/OCEANS.2006.306792. Impacts of entanglement on reproductive rates • reproductive female right whales with severe entanglement wounds have significantly longer calving intervals than females with no or minor wounds. • females carrying gear or with severe entanglement histories are significantly less likely to calve again. • energetic costs of an entanglement can have immediate or long-term impacts on reproduction Right whale 1140 (“Wart”) - Disentangled in 2010 by broadhead cutter shot with a crossbow - Not seen again until April 2013 in Cape Cod Bay with a calf Knowlton, A. R., Hamilton, P. K., & Pettis, H. M. (2012). Status of reproductive females in the North Atlantic right whale population and impacts of human activities on their reproductive success. Report for NOAA Cooperative Agreement Number CCS Images NA09OAR4320129. Feeding grounds When and where do entanglements happen? Vancouver Aquarium Migrating Duke University Breeding grounds 1984 to 2018 Entanglements on the US West Coast (source: NOAA Fisheries) RABEN Gear Sources of Entangled Whales on the US West Coast 2015 to 2017 dungeness crab unknown spiny lobster sablefish shrimp prawn net Source: NOAA Fisheries West Coast Large Whale Entanglements – 1994 to 2018 (source: NOAA Fisheries) Entanglements off California (from NOAA) Increased entanglements in the Pacific NW 2018 EntanglementReported Entanglement Reports 1994 to1994 2018-2018 in -WA19 credible & OR reports (live and dead with entanglement) - 15 confirmed Humpback whale Gray whale Fin whale Blainsville beaked whale Unidentified Mysticete & CRC RHIB Resight of entangled humpback Research efforts coordinated with 20180707Mn - Search by Reuben Lasker & CRC First sighting of emaciated entanglement responders can locate - Documentation collected by CRC humpback RHIB and respond immediately to entangled - Reuben Lasker stood by as CRC and SR3 responded to Inwhales 2018, research teams with the collect more documentation First sighting of entangled humpback 20180730Mn California Current Ecosystem Survey - Attempts to attach telemetry - Documentation collected searched, documented and/or CRC R/V Ziphid - 3-day response effort with CRC/SR3/OSU responded to 7 entanglement reports (6 whales were entangled) First sighting of entangled humpback 20180805Mn - Located by Reuben Lasker & CRC RHIB - Telemetry attached by CRC - Severe injury to peduncle - Disentangled the next day Resight of entangled humpback 20181012Mn – emaciated, long-term entanglement - CRC-SR3 & CWR, WET Team conducted 2-day entanglement response First sighting of entangled humpback 20180904Mn - Whale located at start of effort R/V Reuben Lasker - Drone documentation collected - Whale shed gear as response team First sighting of entangled humpback 20180921Mn - Dead entangled whale - Documentation collected Reasons for Entanglement Response Welfare Public Safety Conservation CCS Images NOAA Permit #932-1905 Documentation collected during an entanglement response is critical to understanding the problem Helmet Cam Underwater camera with pole mount Documenting and Storage of Gear Removed from Entangled Whales Preventative solutions Whale illustration by Uko Gorter require good information What you can do • Look for entangled whales • Report entanglements immediately • Stand-by • Document 1-877-767-9425 NMFS WEST COAST ENTANGLEMENT REPORTING HOTLINE CCS Image When Standing By: Give the whale lots of space and move slowly • Your vessel can become entangled in the gear trailing behind the whale • If the whale becomes agitated by close approaches of the stand-by vessel it will make it harder for responders to disentangle the whale Standing By is Critical to a Successful Response 2 hours 450 nm2 1 hour 110 nm2 20 minutes 12 nm2 Search area Summary of 2018 WA/OR On-Water Responses (Primarily Cascadia and SR3 with others assisting) • two responses to live entangled whales • search for 6 live entangled whales • search for 2 dead entangled whales • USCG support and/or search for 5 events over 7 days • necropsy on 3 dead entangled whales CRC/SR3 Images Images taken under NOAA Permit #18786-03 Entangled Gray Whale – No ID 2018-04-13 – Mukilteo - reported by Washington State Ferry Cpt.
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